Lou Reed

In 1980, he married Sylvia Morales, who inspired his song-writing to a great extent during his solo career. He divorced her in 1994.

He was then romantically linked with artist, Laurie Anderson, whom he married on April 12, 2008.

In 2013, he underwent a liver transplant in Cleveland. He died on October 27, 2013 from liver disease.

Lou Reed was born as Lewis Allan Reed, to Toby and Sidney Joseph Reed in New York. He is of Jewish descent and spent most of his childhood in Long Island, and became fond of jazz, rock ‘n’ roll and blues music from a young age.

He joined Syracuse University in 1960, where he studied creative writing, film direction and journalism. After he graduated, he moved to New York City and worked for a brief period as a songwriter for Pickwick Records.

In 1964, he came up with a parody single, titled, ‘The Ostrich’. He composed and sang the song along with future ‘Velvet Underground’ mate, John Cale. The song caught on as a popular number with the masses and his talent as a songwriter and a singer, captured the attention of critics.

He lived with John Cale and soon, they began inviting college friends over to collaborate on a couple of pieces that they had worked on. Thus, the group began increasing in number with the addition of Maureen Tucker and Sterling Morrison and they named their group, ‘The Velvet Underground’, in 1964.

Andy Warhol, a leading artist and illustrator of the pop arts movement, was smitten by the kind of work the group was presenting and eventually became their mentor. He accompanied them to parties and introduced them to the New York music and art scene, where the group’s popularity started growing in numbers.

Since Warhol claimed part ownership of the band, he suggested the inclusion of another member, Nico, a European musician, in their debut music album.

After some resistance from the ‘Velvet Underground’ and Reed himself, the group agreed to include Nico as a part of the band and changed its name to ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’. The group received its first commercial success in the late 60s. Songs like ‘Heroin’, written by Reed, became extremely popular.

The clashes between the members of the group led to both, Nico and Warhol, quitting from the group. Cale and Reed were also at loggerheads, which eventually drove Cale from the group after the release of two albums.

‘The Velvet Underground and Nico’ is the debut album recorded by Lou Reed and his group on March 12, 1967. The album became a critical and commercial hit much later due to its underlying themes of masochism, sex, prostitution and drugs. It has been inducted into the Rolling Stone’s list of ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ and is also added in the ‘National Recording Registry’.

‘Transformer’ is Reed’s second solo album, released in November 1972. The single, ‘Walk on the Wild Side’ became a widespread commercial success and became one of his signature songs. The album was placed at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and number 13 on the UK Albums Chart.

‘Berlin’, released in 1973 is another one of his major successes and was ranked 344 in the Rolling Stone’s list of ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time’. It was also included in the top 10 UK Albums Chart and one of the singles, ‘Caroline Says II’ has the most number of cover versions by numerous musicians since its release.